Six seeds, four games
Washington open the final stretch of the regular season today against Chicago, with everything from the third seed to the eighth still up for grabs. The Mystics sit at 24-16, level with the New York Liberty and the Dallas Wings in a three-way tie for sixth. Two games separate them from Atlanta and Indiana. Three separate them from Las Vegas.
They arrive in decent shape. Washington won three of their last four games before the league paused for the FIBA World Cup, and their young core came back with medals. Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen both featured on the United States squad that took gold.
Citron will not play today. The club listed personal reasons. Guard Georgia Amoore is questionable with a knee problem, which thins the backcourt further on a night when Washington would rather be at full strength.
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The trio carrying Washington
Citron averages 16.8 points and 4.3 assists per game and earned a second All-Star selection this season. Shakira Austin matches her scoring at 16.8 points and ranks third in the league with 367 total rebounds. Iriafen posts 15.3 points and 9.4 rebounds, numbers that put her close to a nightly double-double in only her second year.
Coach Sydney Johnson framed the World Cup run as useful mileage for players that age. “Those are big moments for players to be that young to have this kind of opportunity,” he said. His brief for the last four games is narrower: make sure the habits hold. “Everybody’s looking to improve and play their best basketball.”
Chicago play for pride and for spoiling
The Sky are 15-25 and out of the playoff race, but a team with nothing to lose in mid-September can still wreck somebody’s seeding. Their season fell apart early. Rickea Jackson, their top scorer at 18.0 points per game, went down with a season-ending injury after four games. Skylar Diggins managed 19 games at 14.2 points before her own season ended.
Kamilla Cardoso has held the middle together with 14.8 points and 8.7 rebounds, and rookie guard Sydney Taylor has added 13.8 points a night. Chicago lost three straight heading into the break.
“I think it’s just been a tough season,” coach Tyler Marsh said. What is left for him is finishing it properly, starting with a Washington side missing its leading scorer.
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